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I had an electronic pistol box for quick access to my primary home defense pistol for almost two years.
The day came when the batteries died and I went to grab the 9-volt battery to “jump-start” it. It was at
that point I discovered the pistol box was designed to revert to the default factory code when the battery
died. In the two-year span, I had forgotten the original code and reached out to the maker for
help. Fortunately, I was eventually able to get the code and regain access to the secured pistol.
Here is the problem – sure that safe worked (until that point) and was affordable at less than $100, but if
I had needed that pistol for an emergency in that span of time I would have been out of luck. This led me
to immediately seek out a mechanical locking pistol safe – no batteries and no keys. Keys can be lost or
duplicated and are cumbersome when trying to get quick access, and batteries have their own issues
that I outlined above.
TitanVault’s Titan Gun Safe offers everything I want in a safe – a patented mechanical locking function,
fast and safe access to any variety of handguns, and can be mounted virtually anywhere. To review, I’ll
focus on different mounting, pistol, and feature options.
The safe features two universal mounts – one specifically for a bed frame and the other for all other
uses. I also acquired Titan’s ammo box, which is an optional attachment for when the magazine needs to
be stored separately from the firearm. Construction is very well done, and all components feel sturdy
and secure. The fixed carry handle is low profile and out of the way yet comfortable when needed.
Instructions were very thorough for installation tips, mounting procedures, functions, code changes, and
troubleshooting. My only criticism would be that they were a little overwhelming. Particularly with the
process of changing the factory code. Still, even this jarhead got it right on the first try. With that out of
the way, everything else seemed easy.
The buttons and knob make it incredibly easy to access the pistol. There are more than 2000 different
combinations to choose from, and with only a few practice runs I am very comfortable opening it. I had
no trouble finding the buttons in the dark after some additional practice. There are no backlights or
anything, so be mindful that it is up to you to become proficient with it.
The holster is extended toward you upon opening the safe door by using a pivot arm, and it holds
virtually any revolver or pistol. I tested it with a Ruger American 9mm full size pistol and with a
compact Sig P320 RX with a mounted flashlight. Both weapons were held tight by the holster and fit
perfectly in the box. There is a trigger guard that can be removed from the holster to accommodate
larger pistols. By default, the holster includes Velcro straps but they can be removed. I would
recommend removing them unless you have the box in a vehicle where heavy off-road use may be a
concern.
Titan’s ammo box can be mounted in a few different locations, although I chose the side position for
myself. It does not lock independently. It relies on the main safe door to secure it. Although, once the
main door is open, the spring-loaded ammo box pops open and makes accessing the magazine very
convenient. The ammo box has foam inserts that can be modified to fit either 2 single stack magazines
or 1 double stack magazine up to 6” long.
For mounting, I tested with the safe secured to an office desk and mounted in a vehicle. If you plan to
keep in a vehicle, I’d recommend purchasing the optional cable lock from TitanVault. It will be simpler
than trying to drill into the floor of your vehicle for a permanent mount.
Cost for the Titan Gun Safe is around $359-$369 depending on whether you choose the compact or
original size. In my experience it is worth every penny. You can get electronic safes for much less but
they will fail you at some point. The Titan Gun Safe is California Department of Justice approved, and
that testing included a 250-pound door pull test, 120 stroke hacksaw test with a load of 10-pounds, lock
manipulation, drop, and impact testing. This safe is a tank and I trust it when needed

Gun ownership is both a basic American right and one of the most contentious social and political issues of the day. There are about 300 million privately-owned firearms in the US‐which works out to roughly one gun for every man, woman and child in America‐with nearly a third of the population owning at least one gun.Many of these firearms were bought with home protection in mind, which makes sense: in the right circumstances, a gun can be your first and most effective line of defense against intruders and criminals.

Criminals don’t like finding themselves on the business end of a gun barrel any more than the rest of us do, which is why 74% of them actively try to avoid breaking into houses when the owners are home. 4 In other words, just the fear of being shot is often enough to dissuade criminals from targeting certain homes.

A joint investigation by the Associated Press and the USA Today Network has found that in the first six months of this year, gun accidents killed at least one child in the U.S. every other day. Both the shooters and victims were most likely to be three years old.Ryan Foley, one of the reporters on the story for the AP in Iowa, joins Hari Sreenivasan to discuss.

HARI SREENIVASAN, PBS NEWSHOUR WEEKEND ANCHOR: A joint investigation by the “Associated Press” and “USA Today Network” has found in the first six months of this year, gun accidents killed at least one child in the United States every other day. The report published yesterday analyzed more than 1,000 deaths and injuries from accidental shootings involving children ages 17 and younger between January 2014 and this June.

Joining me now to talk about this is one of the reporters of that story, Ryan Foley, a member of “A.P.’s” national reporting team focused on state government coverage. He is in Iowa today.

First of all, what’s the purpose of the investigation? What prompted it in the first place?

A joint investigation by the “Associated Press” and “USA Today Network” has found in the first six months of this year, gun accidents killed at least one child in the United States every other day. The report published yesterday analyzed more than 1,000 deaths and injuries from accidental shootings involving children ages 17 and younger between January 2014 and this June.

Joining me now to talk about this is one of the reporters of that story, Ryan Foley, a member of “A.P.’s” national reporting team focused on state government coverage. He is in Iowa today.

First of all, what’s the purpose of the investigation? What prompted it in the first place?

RYAN FOLEY, ASSOCIATED PRESS: So, we wanted to take a more comprehensive look at these shootings, why they were happening, who the victims were, what types of guns were being used. And we also knew that there wasn’t a lot of government research into these questions.

HARI SREENIVASAN: How do we keep track of them today and what did your investigation look at?

RYAN FOLEY: We started with data from the Gun Violence Archive, which is a national group that tries to track every single gun incident in the United States. So, we took their data going back to 2014 and looked at more than 1,000 cases involving minors who were involved in these unintentional shootings.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Aren’t there statistics from law enforcement or through the government?

RYAN FOLEY: The only government data that’s available comes from the CDC, and we found that, that data is very incomplete. For 2014, they only listed 74 unintentional firearms deaths involving minors. We actually found over 110.

And the CDC admits that it is undercounting these because many local coroners classify these shootings as homicides other than unintentional or accidental.

HARI SREENIVASAN: It looks like different populations under 17 have higher rates. Why do, you know, kids three and under have such a high rate? What’s the similarity with teenagers?

RYAN FOLEY: There’s a large spike in the number of these shootings involving three and four-year-olds. In many cases, they’re able to access their parents’ unsecured loaded guns. And they also pointed them back at their own faces, we found, and shot themselves by accident.

Then, the data shows there’s another large spike for children ages 15 through 17, and those usually involve groups of teenagers who manage to obtain a gun and it accidentally goes off and kills a sibling or a friend.

HARI SREENIVASAN: What efforts have been made on either a national or state level to try to prevent these gun deaths?

RYAN FOLEY: On the national level right now, there’s really not a lot going on. Congress severely limited the funding that’s available back in the 1990s to the CDC. Many former CDC officials will tell you that that’s been a major setback.

HARI SREENIVASAN: What about safer gun storage?

RYAN FOLEY: There’s certainly a push, local and state level, to encourage safe gun storage, and that’s a key finding here. But gun safety advocates will argue that a lot more does need to be done, first of all, to even study how big of a problem it is.

The government used to do an annual survey where they asked Americans how they stored their guns. The CDC stopped asking that question in 2004 on a nationwide level. And just this year, the state officials who run that survey decided not to reintroduce those questions.

HARI SREENIVASAN: All right. Ryan Foley of the “Associated Press” joining us from Iowa today — thanks so much.

RYAN FOLEY: Thanks for having me.
So, we wanted to take a more comprehensive look at these shootings, why they were happening, who the victims were, what types of guns were being used. And we also knew that there wasn’t a lot of government research into these questions.

HARI SREENIVASAN: How do we keep track of them today and what did your investigation look at?

RYAN FOLEY: We started with data from the Gun Violence Archive, which is a national group that tries to track every single gun incident in the United States. So, we took their data going back to 2014 and looked at more than 1,000 cases involving minors who were involved in these unintentional shootings.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Aren’t there statistics from law enforcement or through the government?

RYAN FOLEY: The only government data that’s available comes from the CDC, and we found that, that data is very incomplete. For 2014, they only listed 74 unintentional firearms deaths involving minors. We actually found over 110.

And the CDC admits that it is undercounting these because many local coroners classify these shootings as homicides other than unintentional or accidental.

HARI SREENIVASAN: It looks like different populations under 17 have higher rates. Why do, you know, kids three and under have such a high rate? What’s the similarity with teenagers?

RYAN FOLEY: There’s a large spike in the number of these shootings involving three and four-year-olds. In many cases, they’re able to access their parents’ unsecured loaded guns. And they also pointed them back at their own faces, we found, and shot themselves by accident.

Then, the data shows there’s another large spike for children ages 15 through 17, and those usually involve groups of teenagers who manage to obtain a gun and it accidentally goes off and kills a sibling or a friend.

HARI SREENIVASAN: What efforts have been made on either a national or state level to try to prevent these gun deaths?

RYAN FOLEY: On the national level right now, there’s really not a lot going on. Congress severely limited the funding that’s available back in the 1990s to the CDC. Many former CDC officials will tell you that that’s been a major setback.

HARI SREENIVASAN: What about safer gun storage?

RYAN FOLEY: There’s certainly a push, local and state level, to encourage safe gun storage, and that’s a key finding here. But gun safety advocates will argue that a lot more does need to be done, first of all, to even study how big of a problem it is.

The government used to do an annual survey where they asked Americans how they stored their guns. The CDC stopped asking that question in 2004 on a nationwide level. And just this year, the state officials who run that survey decided not to reintroduce those questions.

HARI SREENIVASAN: All right. Ryan Foley of the “Associated Press” joining us from Iowa today — thanks so much.